ALASKA REPUBLICANS DISTRICT 12

EAGLE RIVER / CHUGIAK / FORT RICHARDSON

www.facebook.com/District12ARP AKGOP12@gmail.com

On every question of construction, carry ourselves back to the time when the Constitution was adopted, recollect the spirit manifested in the debates, and instead of trying what meaning may be squeezed out of the text, or invented against it, conform to the probable one in which it was passed. Thomas Jefferson, Letter to Judge William Johnson, Thursday, June 12th 1823 May 24, 2013 Greetings to our fellow district and statewide Republican Party Officers, Let us be clear: A brand new formula for determining quorum in the Republican Party is a non-starter. It is a fool-hardy way to attempt to upend the results of a district election, and the ramifications of the newly proposed formula are utterly ludicrous. The fact that another organization in some other state uses the words authorized vote in a particular way has little impact on how we have used the term over many years, and how it was universally understood during the recent district convention election process. Districts become organized through the regular district convention process. There is not a single district in the state that employed the need for an expanded quorum during their district convention, and with good reason. Immediately following the district conventions, employing such an interpretation would have instantly disorganized every district in the state, and the SCC along with it. If the new formula were employed in every district today, the SCC itself would cease to have a quorum, and then who would choose the members of the SCC? ADOPTING A FILL ALL YOUR VACANT POSITIONS FIRST APPROACH IS A RECIPE FOR NOT GETTING ANYTHING DONE. District 15 made that mistake in 2010. In the fall of 2010, District 15

was able to successfully fill every single one of their voting district positions (including all precinct leaders). And that was the last time that they were able to meet as a district. From August 2010, until redistricting in 2012 (18 months), they were never again able to reach quorum at a meeting, and their district chairman eventually gave up on calling meetings. If the goal is to not get anything done, thenby all meanschange the quorum requirements. But realize that a change to higher quorum requirements does not mean higher standards, it means less work. DISTRICTS DONT TURN ON/OFF LIKE A LIGHT SWITCHTHEY GROW OR THEY SHRINK OVER TIME. Districts are, and for the foreseeable future will continue to be, the lowest organized level of the ARP. At the lowest level, there will always be ebbs and flows in activity. Gone are the days of precinct secretaries, precinct committeewomen, precinct committeemen and precinct campaign chairs. Those chapters in ARP Rules were removed years ago to reflect the fact that district activity is rarely so overwhelming that it spills over into the creation of precinct meetings, precinct fundraisers, contested precinct elections, and the like. At the lowest active level of the party you take what you have and you work with it to build something better. Turning on the light does not result in a fully-formed, sustainable district, but starts the long process of building and organizing. To stop that process of growth part-way, because of its small size, does not inspire the plant to grow to higher heights. It merely keeps it from taking root.
Paid for by District 12 Republicans 11506 Heritage Court #7 Eagle River, Alaska 99577

TARGETING DISTRICTS THAT DONT SUPPORT YOU DOESNT MAKE THEM GO AWAYTHEY JUST FIND NEW WAYS OF EXPRESSING THEIR DISPLEASURE. While it may be tempting to seek out supporters in such a district and to shake things up, in hopes of moving your supporters into leadership positions, we suspect the proper way to go about targeting districts to Dissolve would be to find a district that doesnt have a history of having an average of 12-24 people show up to a district meeting. Also, it just looks bad when you show up to a meeting on the night of a scheduled election and decree by fiat that one of the candidates running, who lost the same election only a month before, will now become temporary chairman and serve as an SCC representative for a district that no longer exists. When you are tempted to shake things up, remember that it is only on rare occasions that butterflies emerge from a hornets nest. WHO IS DISTRICT 12 EAGLE RIVER/CHUGIAK/FORT RICHARDSON?DISTRICT HISTORY AND UNIQUE CHARACTERISTICS Military Community (Much of the district is located on Fort Richardson/JBER) 3 Republicans for every Dem One legislator has been seeking (unsuccessfully) to make the district committee an extension of his campaign/staff Full delegation to State Convention (+ alternates) District represented at every SCC Meeting since district convention District jointly-sponsored a very successful event in preparation for the recent Anchorage Municipal Election that was attended by more than 50 people, and featured lengthy presentations by all regional candidates for Anchorage Assembly and five out of six citywide candidates for Anchorage School Board Low number of registered voters (34th/40) Low voter turnout (32nd/40) District Committee: 9 Members Our district organization was formed in 2012 as part of the 2012 statewide redistricting process. As one of our first activities as a district, we were pleased to be able to facilitate the participation of 292 Republican voters who took part in our District 12 Presidential Preference Poll on March 6th. Three days later, on March 9th, our district committee was formed at the 2012 Republican District Convention held at Jitters Coffee Shop in Eagle River. Through the hard work of our convention organizers, 25 delegates to our district convention participated in electing the members of our district committee and determining the direction of our district for the next two years. It was at this point that the leadership of our district passed from our temporary chairman and secretary (Peter Giessel and Rep. Dan Saddler respectively) to our district committee, comprised of the five elected district officers (District Chairman, ViceChairman, Bonus Vote, Secretary, and Assistant Secretary) and our two elected Republican legislators. At no time since the convention has our district committee consisted of fewer than six officers. Also at our district convention, we elected a full state delegation consisting of 12 state delegates (as well as a number of alternates) to the 2012 Republican State Convention. All of our delegates were credentialed as having been properly elected at our district convention and over the course of the weekend worked diligently with other delegates in committee and on the floor to represent the Republican voters in our district. At the urging of our temporary chairman, Peter Giessel, our district convention chose not to pursue the recruitment of a district treasurer or assistant treasurer, as the ARP State Treasurer had offered to perform those duties on behalf of our district, and a treasurer duplicating those duties at the district level was not needed.

Likewise, we did not elect precinct leaders, as no precincts had been organized prior to the district convention, and the absence of precinct leaders, while a valuable and contributing part of the district when active, was universally understood by all districts in Alaska, as no reason to immediately cause the business of a district committee to come to a screeching halt. Additionally, while we applaud the few individuals in our district who have expressed interest in possibly serving as a precinct leader, we also recognize the difficulties of serving as a precinct leader in a district such as District 12, as our district is greatly impacted by the transitory nature of military service, with nearly half of our precinct leader positions located on Fort Richardson (JBER). Owing to the frequent nature of military deployments and reassignments, and the severe restrictions placed on political activity occurring on military installations, we are cautious not to too quickly recruit individuals who will be unable to fulfill the duties and responsibilities of a precinct leader. We are all too aware of the hardships encountered by districts who have rushed to fill all of their precinct leader positions only to then be unable to achieve quorum and conduct any district business whatsoever, as in the case of the previous District 15. We have learned from such unfortunate situations and established a process by which any individuals desiring to be a precinct leader will be well-acquainted with the duties of the position prior to their appointment being approved by the district committee. We recommend that all districts do likewise.
Summary: Following the results of the election held at our March District Meeting, which was properly noticed and attended by 100% (all six) of the members of our district committee, our district became the target of an attempted hostile takeover of our district committee, meant to steal from us the extensive work of our committee since the 2012 convention. We declaim any support whatsoever for the attempted takeover of our district and the attempt by state party leadership to interfere with a properly held district election process in an effort to overturn the results of that election.

Sincerely,

David Eastman District Chairman

Wayne Ozosky Vice Chairman

Devin Homan Secretary

Laura Temple Assistant Secretary

Karen Perry District 12 Bonus Vote

Ronnie Barcak Treasurer

Theresa Barcak Assistant Treasurer

Laws are made for men of ordinary understanding, and should, therefore, be construed by the ordinary rules of common sense. Their meaning is not to be sought for in metaphysical subtleties, which may make anything mean everything or nothing, at pleasure. Thomas Jefferson, Letter to Judge William Johnson, Thursday, June 12th 1823